Mark McGee

Mark McGee
File:Mark McGee.jpg McGee in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Mark Jude McGee
Born	(1965-11-17) November 17, 1965 Oakland, California, United States
Genres	Rock, melodic rock, jam, blues, country, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, session musician, guitar instructor
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass, mandolin
Years active	1980–present
Labels	NIMA, Atlantic, Sony, Shrapnel, Roadrunner, Hollywood, SSM, Lion Music, Rising Sun, Pony Canyon, GTM, Steamhammer, SPV, ProgRock
Associated acts	Luvplanet, Gregg Allman Band, Gregg Allman & Friends, Vicious Rumors, Starcastle, Mickey Thomas, Stuart Hamm
Website	http://markmcgee.com/

Mark McGee (born November 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known for his lead guitar playing as a member of Luvplanet, Gregg Allman & Friends, and Vicious Rumors.

Early Life

McGee was born on November 17, 1965 in Oakland, California and grew up in the adjacent island city of Alameda, California.. Inspired by numerous classic rock bands including Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, and Queen, he took up guitar at age 11; by age 15 he was performing in the San Francisco Bay Area’s top nightclubs opening for acts such as Blue Oyster Cult, Randy Hansen, Metallica, Ratt, Y&T, Loudness, and Quiet Riot

Career

1979-1983: Overdrive
McGee formed the original music act Overdrive with longtime Alameda friends Mike Carsey (guitars), Mark Peña (drums), and Randy Ferreira (bass). Jimmi Ward stood in on bass for ~8 months during 1982. All of the band members were 15 years old when Overdrive started gigging throughout the San Francisco Bay Area club scene. They opened for acts such as Ratt, Metallica, Quiet Riot, Y&T, Randy Hansen, Loudness, and many others, as well as headlined all of the major music clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, building a strong following in the early 1980’s hard rock scene.

1984-1985: Now
Now was the first band in which McGee served as acting leader, spokesperson, and primary songwriter. The band, which consisted of ex-Overdrive drummer Mark Peña, Devin Lacey on bass, and Rob Bonstin on lead vocals and keyboards, performed at clubs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Although short lived, Now tackled diverse material with complex arrangements, ranging from hard rock to progressive rock, which significantly contributed to the development of McGee’s musicianship.

1985-1986: Starcastle
Now's final performances would be opening for Columbia Recording artists and Illinois-based progressive rock group Starcastle. Impressed by McGee’s abilities, founding member, bassist, and vocalist Gary Strater invited him to join the band. McGee served as the sole guitarist and contributed on vocals and songwriting as the band wrote, recorded, and performed together for just under two years until their final performance in 1986 at renowned San Francisco nightclub The Stone.

1986-1995: Vicious Rumors
In November 1986, McGee joined established heavy metal band Vicious Rumors as one of two guitarists and as harmony vocalist. His distinctive melodic style and technical finesse became a key element in Vicious Rumors' signature sound. McGee co-wrote, co-produced, and recorded four studio albums and two live albums with Vicious Rumors as a member of the band including Digital Dictator (1988), Vicious Rumors (1990), Welcome to the Ball (1991), Plug In and Hang On - Live In Tokyo (1992), Word of Mouth (1994), and A Tribute to Carl Albert (1996).

McGee appeared on MTV (USA, Europe, Asia) in four music videos for the songs “Don't Wait for Me” (1990), “Children” (1991), “The Voice” (1994), and “Against the Grain” (1994). McGee was also featured in the video compilations The First Ten Years - Dedicated to the Memory of Carl Albert (1996) and Crushing the World (2005). McGee toured with Vicious Rumors in 23 countries across North America, Europe, and Japan performing shows with acts such as Paul Stanley (Kiss), Accept, Megadeth, Blue Oyster Cult, Cacophony, Racer X, Danzig, Savatage, Winger, and Zakk Wylde. After his departure, McGee would return as a special guest guitarist on their later releases Sadistic Symphony (2001), Razorback Killers (2011), and Electric Punishment (2013).

1995-2004, 2007: Gregg Allman Band/Gregg Allman & Friends
Shortly after leaving Vicious Rumors in March of 1995 to pursue his growing musical interests, McGee began performing with San Francisco Bay Area blues/funk/rock/R&B band, The Alameda All Stars. All Stars members Tommy Thompson (keyboards and vocals), Tom Miller (bass and vocals), Preston Thrall (drums), and Mark “Jellyroll” Burgstahler (guitar) were active members of Gregg Allman's solo band Gregg Allman & Friends. This connection led to a successful audition with Gregg Allman & Friends in October 1995 which secured McGee’s slot as the lead/slide guitarist.

McGee played with Gregg Allman & Friends for over ten years (1995-2004, 2007), making him the longest-running guitarist in Allman’s solo career. Although various guitarists in the second guitar slot were members of Gregg Allman & Friends, McGee is the only guitarist who performed in every show during that time period, including a three-and-a-half week, 24-show tour of Japan in 1998 as the only guitarist. In March of 2007, after a three-year hiatus and guitarists Val McCallum ([[Jackson Browne[[) and the legendary Robben Ford (Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell) filling in as McGee’s replacements, McGee was asked to rejoin the band.

McGee toured extensively with Gregg Allman & Friends throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan sharing the bill with such acts as Jeff Beck, The Spinners, Wilson Pickett, Jimmie Vaughn, David Crosby, Gov’t Mule, Bad Company, John Mayall, REO Speedwagon, Joe Cocker, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ted Nugent, Joan Jett, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Derek Trucks, Edwin McCain, The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Loverboy, Kansas, The Doobie Brothers, The Neville Brothers, Steel Pulse, and Cyndi Lauper. McGee appears on Gregg Allman’s sixth studio album Searching For Simplicity (1997) playing all guitars on tracks “Startin’ Over” and “Memphis in the Meantime” both produced by legendary producer Tom Down (Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others). He also appears on the live version of the song “These Days” on No Stranger To The Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman (2002).

1995-Present: Alameda All Stars
McGee joined established San Francisco Bay Area blues/rock/funk/R&B band The Alameda All Stars in 1995. As a member of The Alameda All Stars, McGee has performed shows with many large acts including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, Journey, 38 Special, Night Ranger, The Tubes, The Doobie Brothers, and Eddie Money, as well as backing up keyboardist Brian Auger, guitarist/vocalist Leslie West (Mountain), and multi instrumentalist Denny Laine (Paul McCartney and Wings, The Moody Blues) and at events including the 40th Anniversary Summer of Love concert (2007) and West Fest, 40th Anniversary of Woodstock (2009) which was attended by nearly 100,000 people.

1999-Present: Luvplanet
McGee met Detroit-born singer-songwriter Nicole Sutton in March of 1999 when hired as a session guitarist for her demos. Together with singer Katie Schuch, bassist Stuart Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani), and drummer Jeff Campitelli (The Squares, Joe Satriani) the band worked on material throughout 1999 with just a few live performances at the end of that year. In 2001 McGee and Sutton founded Luvplanet and began pre-production on material that would be the track listing for their debut release on SSM records. Hamm and Campitelli would soon exit due to commitments with guitarist Joe Satriani, but reappeared to perform on the band’s self-titled debut, Luvplanet, produced by McGee and released in March 2003. In 2004, McGee and Sutton severed ties with Schuch and went on to release State of Mind (2005), Lucky One (2008), Luvolution (2010), and Rivertown (2016). The band also recorded the track “Don't Take Me For A Loser” for the Gary Moore tribute Give Us Moore - Gary Moore Tribute with McGee on lead vocals.

Luvplanet's genre-bending sound consists of rock, jam, pop, blues, and country. The band is known for McGee and Sutton’s songwriting chemistry and lush vocal harmonies, Sutton's sincere, heartfelt vocals, and extended psychedelic live jams featuring McGee’s thematic, soulful, shredding guitar work. Luvplanet’s current lineup includes: McGee as lead guitarist, vocalist, songwriter; Nicole Sutton as rhythm guitarist, vocalist, songwriter; Tommy Sisco on bass; and Michael Amos on drums.

As a member of Luvplanet, McGee has supported acts such as Gregg Allman, Michael Schenker, Berlin, Boston, Plain White T’s, UFO, John Waite, The Babys, Third Eye Blind, Ronnie Montrose, The B-52's, Todd Rundgren, Jesse Colin Young, Pat Travers, Elvin Bishop, Y&T, Adrian Belew, The Tubes, and Uli Jon Roth.

Other Projects
As a session musician McGee has appeared on numerous releases by other musicians and has been credited for production, guitars, bass, vocals and mandolin. Highlights include:

• Vocalist Mickey Thomas (Jefferson Starship, Elvin Bishop) - Marauder (2011); McGee plays guitar on “Gimme Shelter,” “Moneytalks,” “Delta Lady,” and “Maybe I'm Amazed.”
• Bassist Stuart Hamm - Just Outside of Normal (2010); McGee plays slide guitar on “Going to California.”
• Bassist Stuart Hamm - Outbound (2000); McGee plays lead guitar on “Remember.”
• Guitar Farm (2005) - an instrumental release created by Steve Woolverton featuring performances by McGee with artists such as Pat Thrall, Dave Meniketti, Stef Burns, Jeff Watson, Karl Derfler, Ed McClary, and Prairie Prince; McGee plays guitar on “Guitar Farm,” “Barn Dance,” and “Phone Chord.”
• Sky High (2005 film released by Walt Disney Pictures) original soundtrack; McGee plays guitars on “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”
• Guitarist Brad Gillis (Night Ranger, Ozzy Osbourne, Rubicon) - Alligator (2000); McGee co-wrote and plays guitars on the track “Chain Gang” and also contributes guitars and vocals to the song “Monché LáRoughe” (appears on the Japanese release only).

Equipment

McGee’s equipment includes:

• Guitars: Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Wechter, and Taylor
• Pickups: Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio
• Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.009-.042) and Earthwood Phosphor Bronze Alloy (.011-.052)
• Effects: MXR, TC Electronic, and Strymon (company)
• Picks: Dunlop Manufacturing - Delrin series (.96)
• Amplifiers: Marshall, Fender, Peavey
• Cables: Planet Waves
• Pedalboards: West Coast Pedalboards
• Speakers: Celestion
• Slides: Dunlop Manufacturing - Glass Model # 218

Influences

McGee cites numerous musical influences including Jimmy Page, Paul Stanley, Jeff Beck, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, David Gilmour, Neal Schon, Angus Young, Gary Moore, Alex Lifeson, Steven Tyler, Brian May, Elton John, Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Lukather, Sonny Landreth, Tom Scholz, Steve Morse, George Harrison, Mike Stern, Nancy Wilson, Ace Frehley, Frank Marino, Ronnie Montrose, Rod Price, Wally Stocker, John Waite, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Eddie Van Halen, Lou Gramm, Robin Trower, Randy Rhoads, Duncan Sheik, Amy Ray, Eric Johnson, Steve Hackett, Charles Kelly, Miles Davis, Johann Sebastian Bach, Charlie Christian, Allan Holdsworth, Tom Petty, Gerry Leonard, Charlie Parker, Bill Frisell, Larry Carlton, Patrick O' Hearn, Ian Crichton, Mike Campbell, Jon Anderson, Peter Gabriel, and Trevor Rabin.

Discography

Luvplanet

• Luvplanet (2003)
• “Don't Take Me for a Loser” - Give Us Moore! - Gary Moore Tribute (2004)
• State of Mind (2005)
• Lucky One (2008)
• Luvolution (2010)
• Gem - single (2016)
• Rivertown (2016)

Gregg Allman

• Searching For Simplicity (1997)
• No Stranger To The Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman (2002)

Vicious Rumors

• Digital Dictator (1988)
• Vicious Rumors (1990)
• Welcome to the Ball (1991)
• Plug In and Hang On - Live In Tokyo (1992)
• Word of Mouth (1994)
• A Tribute to Carl Albert (1996)
• Sadistic Symphony (2001) – special guest appearance
• Razorback Killers (2011) – special guest appearance
• Electric Punishment (2013) – special guest appearance

Starcastle

• Song of Times (2007)

Other albums

• Guitar Masters (1989)
• Jerry Wagers - Propeller (1996)
• Adolfo Luis Lazo - El Callejon: The Alley (1999)
• Stuart Hamm - Outbound (2000)
• Brad Gillis - Alligator (2000)
• Morris Thomas - Wishes (2001)
• Sky High Official Soundtrack (2005)
• Guitar Farm (2005)
• Stuart Hamm - Just Outside Of Normal (2010)
• Mickey Thomas - Marauder (2011)
• Eternal Flight - Diminished Reality, Elegies and Mysteries (2011)
• Eda Maxym - Circle of Sparks (2011)
• Bonstone - Zombie Heart (2014)
• Kris Keefer & Mark McGee - Angel's Element (2018)

External Links

Official website (http://markmcgee.com)
Mark McGee at AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mark-mcgee-mn0001905020)
Mark McGee discography at Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/937036-Mark-McGee-2)

References

This article "Mark McGee" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Mark McGee. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Fleas and Lice
• Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
• A1C (band)
• Akhadir Recordings Amsterdam
• Fall of Envy
• Tara Holloway
• Heph B

---